Webster, John C. B.

1992 0-7734-9867-2This is the first attempt to write the history of the Dalit Christians. Between ten and fifteen percent of all Dalits in India are Christians. Between two-thirds and three-quarters of all Christians in India are Dalits. Dalit is an India term which means broken or oppressed, and refers to those also called untouchables. After a brief discussion of the origins of caste and untouchability, Webster traces their history within the context of the wider Dalit movement from the mass conversion movements of the late 19th century, through the religious competition and nationalist politics of the 1920s and 1930s, to the present post-independence period through 1990 when the government of India adopted a policy of compensatory or protective discrimination towards Dalits. The book concludes with a chapter on the history of Christian theological reflections vis-a-vis the Dalits.